These are indeed “strange times”, to use the very apt phrase of a parent who emailed us last week.

The phrase came from this correspondence with the mother of a Year 7 pupil: “Thank you to all [my daughter’s] teachers for their feedback on Teams. I really appreciate the attention and kindness taken towards her learning during these very strange times.”

We have had many lovely parent comments like these. Thank you to everyone who recognises that we are doing everything possible to help your children continue learning while they are at home, as well as providing guidance and support for their general well-being.

Despite what you may have read in some newspapers, teachers are not just sitting at home twiddling their thumbs. Our teachers certainly aren’t anyway!

You know how tirelessly committed our teachers are. We have had many Thank Yous through the Thank A Teacher campaign, supported by the Department for Education. Thank A Teacher day was 20th May and you can see some of the lovely messages we received in this newsletter.

This issue is, obviously, very different to usual. There are some of the established features - such as our alumni spotlight - but you will mostly see what pupils have been getting up to at home. This includes some selections of pupils’ schoolwork which have been shared with us by proud parents as well as pupils themselves. You will also see pictures of other activities, including new endeavours like DIY, gardening and baking.

A lot of you are sharing photos on our Twitter feed, which is wonderful. Even if you do not ‘do’ Twitter usually, you can still see what is happening on there by visiting https://twitter.com/barrbeaconsch

And if you would like to send us anything via email, here is the usual address: postbox@barrbeaconschool.co.uk.

Stay safe, take care and thank you for your continued support.

Ms L DraycottHeadteacher

MESSAGES FROM YOUR TEACHERS

“Humanities at Barr Beacon School cannot wait to see you all again. Miss you. Everyone stay safe and well”.Humanities Department

“Hello everyone we miss you,from the Maths department”.

Maths Department

“Stay safe, stay healthy, stay happy, keep smiling from the SEND department”.SEND Department

“We miss you be > average, stay safe”.Maths Department

“Barr Beacon school cannot wait to see you again. We miss you”. Senior Leadership

“Take good care of yourselves and each other”.Heads of House and Assistant Heads of House

“Reading gives us somewhere to go when we have to stay where we are. Love the English department”.English Department

“Barr Beacon MFL department miss you, we can’t wait to see you soon”.MFL Department

“Science says stay safe !!”Science Department

The Sixth Form Team made brilliant use of Dolly Parton’s ‘9 to 5’ in this top notch video.

VE DAY CELEBRATIONSTo commemorate the 75th anniversary of VE Day we asked you to get creative and we weren’t disappointed with the outcomes. As well as some great art work, we even had Katie in Year 9 record her rendition of We’ll Meet Again. The video was published on our web site and social media and was featured in Walsall Council’s communications to all schools.

S. Chahal M. Bashir

KEY STAGE 3 HISTORY WORK

Pupils have really been impressing their history teachers with the work they have been sending in. Here is a small selection of work three pupils have sent over Teams or e-mail.

Grace’s (Year 8) work on the 1929 financial crash and the rise of Hitler.

Harvey’s (Year 7) work on the Stuarts.

PUPILS GOING ABOVE AND BEYOND!

Sophie. F in Year 7 has been seeking feedback on her history work and improving it continually based on her teachers' responses. The photos show part of her history project on the Tudors. The history department asked for a short information booklet on Tudor times and Sophie came out with this detailed piece of work complete with timeline and front cover. Mr Jackson was very impressed.

An extract from Kareena’s (Year 7) work on the French Revolution

PUPILS WORKING HARD AT HOME

So many of you are working very hard at home and checking in with us. Teachers are putting forward the names of pupils who they know are working exceptionally hard to be entered into a prize draw for Amazon vouchers. We clearly do not have enough vouchers for everyone and if we featured everyone in every year group who has been nominated then this newsletter would be dozens of pages long. Instead, here are the pupils in Years 7 and 8 who have been nominated multiple times by many of their teachers.

L, BrownE. Baingana C. WestwickS. FisherL. Morris N. RaiG. KaurK. MarwahaG. HarrisonO. SalterE. NicodemouF. SorensenM. BashirM. EvansK. LallyA. SahotaN. Nandyala

D. Kirby N. HighwayA. Michalova E. Davico-Ejaz K. MathvaruS. ComptonS. MahilS. WalkerJ. BryanJ. HegneyJ. BrownC. BacciocchiA. StanierD, BryantR. NaseemR. EduC. Ayres

A. ParekhE.M. BarnettE. SammonsR. EduE. HobbsE. WranglesG. WestleyK. BromwichC. MallonP. Kang K. TonksL. ThorpeO. FallowfieldC. WorralA. Gibbs

T. HuntM. EvansR. BlakemanL. BowdenC. ReynoldsT. Harris E. DimitrovaD. Bindiya MalikL. Thomas-RhodenZ. InmanA. IngramC. ConnollyS. Roden

E. GreenS. JuniorG. Niazi A. BasraS. AftabW. BlairL. ChivertonR. BagriG. Eades

YEAR 7

YEAR 8Sophie has also created this fabulous mood board as part of the Year 7 Geography topic on Tourism, learning why this industry is so important to so many different people. Sophie has included all the information about her dream holiday, from researching how much it would cost to travel and stay there, when the best time of year is to go and completing an itinerary of activities. She also included a 500 word blurb on her dream holiday to Orlando Florida.

ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT

As you will have seen from our previous newsletters, we love keeping in touch with former students and they love to keep in touch with us. Jack Evans graduated from Barr Beacon in 2015 after completing his A levels here and now works as a Senior Parliamentary Aide in the Houses of Parliament. His top tip for succeeding in education is to “try your best, one day at a time. In the end, the results will be worth it.” For the world of work, be recommends that you “always remember that you are your own person and strive to be the best version of yourself.”

YOU CAN PLAY THE UKULELE!

From September, music students at Barr Beacon School will be learning the ukulele! Aldridge & District Lions Rotary Club have awarded us their Educational Endowment Fund so that we can purchase a whole class set of ukuleles.

Thank you so much Aldridge & District Lions!

MAKING A NEURON AT HOME

The psychology department have been running a competition with their Year 12 students where they need to create a motor neuron out of anything they find in/outside their home (can't draw it or use the computer). This is to check their knowledge and understanding of the different types of neurons, which is something they've learnt whilst learning from home. Here are the neuron models made by Gabby, Alisha and Jessica.

Gabby. L

Alisha. S Jessica. P

YEAR 7 GEOGRAPHY TOURISM MOOD BOARD

Sophie in Year 7 has created this fabulous mood board as part of the Year 7 Geography topic on Tourism, learning why this industry is so important to so many different people. Sophie has included all the information about her dream holiday, from researching how much it would cost to travel and stay there, when the best time of year is to go and completing an itinerary of activities. She also included a 500 word blurb on her dream holiday to Orlando Florida.

NATIONAL THANK A TEACHER DAY 20TH MAY 2020

Thank A Teacher Day is a national initiative supported by the Department for Education. We received many Thank Yous from pupils and parents this year, for individual teachers as well as the school as a whole. Here are some of them.

Pupils from across the Matrix Academy Trust also submitted their Thank Yous for all our wonderful staff which were collated into a video.

You can find the ‘Thank A Teach Day’ video on our Twitter or Vimeo!

@barrbeaconschwww.vimeo.com/419891744

NABI’S COVID-19 BRIEFING

If you have not yet had a chance to check out this video from Nabi in Year 7 make sure you do. It’s not only very entertaining but highly informative.

Dear Wrekin None of us would have thought back in September that we would be in this position now. A new way of living and learning has had to emerge from an uncertain time. And yet, despite all this change, it warms me to see and hear about the normality you continue to demonstrate. I have been receiving excellent feedback from many of your teachers about your involvement in form activities, those which show awareness of how to achieve a healthy and happy mind, as well as excellence and effort in class work. I have also witnessed first-hand how creative and intuitive you are in being able to complete and present your work. Many of you have received praise nominations as a result of this.

For this reason, it makes me incredibly proud to say that I am the head of Wrekin, the House that demonstrates the values we uphold: Warrior, Resilient, Enthusiastic, Knowledgeable, Independent and Noble. We will be back together soon, and life as it was before will resume. Until that time, please continue with your hard work. Keep your mind and body healthly.

Mrs ThindHead of Wrekin House

Hello Clent!

Firstly I’d like to say how proud I’ve felt when I’m told how you have responded to our current situation. It is difficult when our normal lives are changed and we don’t know what will happen. This can put us out of our comfort zones and its totally normal to feel different than we normally would. Having said that, we must remember that this situation won’t last forever and soon I hope we will all be able to meet up with our friends, families and loved ones.

I’ve been very pleased to get wonderful messages from your teachers telling me about the fantastic work which you have been doing.

Although we might not be physically attending school, it is important that you continue with your studies. When we do return to school it will really help if you have been keeping up with your work and acting on your teacher feedback. This will help you to keep making progress.

I hope you are also taking time to be thankful for this time we get to spend with our families and carers. Sometimes, with the quick pace of life, we take things for granted and the close relationships with those around us often get overlooked. Enjoy the time with your family, take some time to enjoy the sunshine and stay safe.

Mr MurphyHead of Clent House

Hello Bredon, I just wanted to say that I am really missing you all and that I am very proud of how you have responded to these difficult times. I thoroughly enjoy reading emails from your subject teachers about all of your outstanding work and achievements. Let’s keep this up! I also want to take this opportunity to remind you all that this will not last forever and that we will be united soon. We are a House which is built upon hard work, resilience and encouragement and I am certain that you will be using all of these qualities right now. I can’t wait to see you all, Mr TownsendHead of Bredon House

TWEET, TWEETTHE LATEST NEWS FROM OUR TWITTER ACCOUNTS

We have loved seeing what people are doing at home. Many of you have shared your activities with us on Twitter or by sending us photos through e-mail.

Hello Malvern, Just wanted to say that I hope you are all safe and well and that we are thinking of you all and really missing your faces in school. Please remember that I’m here if you need to contact me via Microsoft Teams if you need any additional support beyond what your teachers are offering you already. I hope you are adapting well to the school day and have a good routine in place for learning. But also please ensure you are doing all you can to keep yourself fit and healthy. Make time to stay touch with your friends (electronically of course!). I’m hearing great things about what you are achieving from your teachers and also some of the great charity

work that some of you are doing. Please keep this up: you are all amazing pupils and can’t wait to see you all again in school. Stay safe, Mrs Saunders

And it’s not just school work you’ve been sending us. We have really enjoyed seeing people learning new things, including DIY, gardening and baking delicious-looking treats. Here is a selection of our favourites.

Mental Health Awareness Week 202018th - 24th May 2020 is Mental Health Awareness Week. We want to remind all of our pupils and their families to take time to focus on their mental well being. We have posted activites on our Twitter for you to try out!

SUPPORT FOR FAMILIES

COVID-19 is an extremely challenging time for everyone. During this time, we need to ensure that we continue to work together to support our pupils and families.

Take a look at our school website for some useful resources and information to help raise awareness of preventative measures, support networks and resources. We want you to look after yourself during this difficult time.

You can find the ‘Parents & Carers guide to home learning’ on the school website.

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Tel: 0121 722 2286

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